Damaged Goods
by reckless-harmonium
Summary: AU in which ten year old Jane protects Maura one day at the park. The two have been by each other's side ever since. Will follow the pair through childhood, high school, and probably beyond. Give it a read and let me know what you think : Rated T for now, will most likely get to M either here or in a sequel depending on what you guys think.


Author's Note: I would like to thank my newly appointed proofreader, Lisa, who actually volunteered for the task. I thank you immensely for the work that you are doing for me. I would also like to thank a reviewer, Kelly, for pointing out that according to Jane's age in the show, she'd be 10 in 1982 and Google did not come about until 1996. Reminder that this story takes place in an AU. So, that being said, let's say that Jane & Maura were born 1996 (when Google came about) thus making them ten in 2006 which is now the starting point of this story. So blah blah blah, enough from me, setting is Boston, 2006. Enjoy!

A Bully in the Park

Young Jane Rizzoli hated her soccer jersey. It made her look like a New York Ranger and, as a Boston citizen and an avid Bruins fan, she avoided mixing patriotic colors unless it was football season. In that case, she would wear the flag colors to support the Patriots. But uniform choice was not up to her. She figured she was just going to have to deal with it if she wanted to remain as the starting center back on the area's best youth league. Even at the age of ten, Jane Rizzoli was a force to be reckoned with. She was admired for her fearless tackles and precise passes. Defense always appealed to her-she liked being in charge of protecting and preventing forwards from moving in on their ultimate target.

As Jane sat in the tall grass just off the field, sweating and exhausted from just playing a match, she noticed a few of the opposing team's players walking to the nearby playground. Good, she thought, they could use a little fun after just getting the crap beaten out of them. She laughed to herself and smiled, proud of her team's latest victory. She untied her cleats, removed her socks and shin guards and relished the prickly feeling of the grass on her tired legs. She leaned back against already strong hands and soaked in the cool, late September air. She watched as the opposing team began running around on the playground, playing tag from what it looked like. One of the more aggressive players had separated from the group and was heading toward the swing sets that were occupied only by a young girl who looked to be about Jane's age. The young girl did not see or hear the agitated player approaching because her eyes were busy scanning pages and her nose was pressed into a book. Sensing a possible threat to the otherwise peaceful playground, Jane stood from her spot in the grass, slipped her hands into her sweatpants pockets, and began ambling cooly over to the playground, blades of grass tickling between her toes and scratching against her bare feet.

From her perspective, Jane could only see the player, who was still wearing her jersey, say something to the girl on the swings. Instantly, Jane picked up her pace and was now walking quickly toward the swings. When the girl reading did not respond, #8 stepped forward and said something again. When there was still no response from the freckled face, the opposing player grew angry and slowly drew a hand up to the book, gripped it between strong fingers and then yanked it away from the delicate hold. Innocent and confused green eyes looked into the angry scowl of #8.

"What did you do that for?" she asked and Jane could faintly hear the question amidst the cacophony of sound at the playground. The bully simply shrugged her shoulders and then continued to dig her cleats into the young girl's book.

"Hey! You're ruining my book!" she screamed and stood from her place on the swing. The innocent girl stood as tall as she possibly could in her blue dress and flats. But, her nemesis' athletic, tall and kind of bulky build made her stand much taller than the dainty, delicate and petite frame in front of her.

"Yeah...and? What are you going to do about it?" she countered and with her statement poked a finger into the smaller girl's shoulder who immediately drew her hand up to start rubbing the spot.

"Ow! You're hurting m-" the smaller girl was cut off mid sentence by the powerful push of number 8. The impact made her fall backward onto the dirty ground. She rose quickly, however, her dress barely stained with dirt and mud but still soft tears ran down her face. At the sight of the girl getting pushed, Jane Rizzoli sprinted across the playground at a speed she rarely even used on the soccer field. She dodged and weaved between other children, running bare foot across mulch, pavement and rocks with only one target in mind. The sound of her feet pounding into the ground caught the attention of the young girl who turned to see a blur of black, unruly curls and a face of intensity flying toward her tormenter. Number 8 saw the young girl turn and moved to turn herself as well to see what the girl was looking at. She did not, however, see Jane's curls or her determined face, instead, her eyes barely registered a large balled up fist before it made contact with her face. Both girls took a few steps back clearly stunned and surprised by the attack. Jane turned her back to the player, focusing her attention only on the wide-eyed girl to her side. "You okay?"

After quickly scanning the back of Jane's jersey, the opposing player blurted "The hell are you doing, Rizzoli?"

Jane turned around quickly, putting herself between the girl in the blue dress and her attacker.

"What I always do," Jane started before straightening her back, putting her hands on her hips and puffing her chest out in an attempt to be a human shield "Defending and protecting."

"Get outta my way, Rizzoli." she yelled trying to get around Jane.

"No." Jane said quickly and her statement was met with a punch that was meant for the young girl but she took instead. The smaller girl let out a shocked gasp as she took a step back from the situation that was playing out. Jane had not even flinched, she took the punch as if it didn't even affect her. No way was she going to show a sign of weakness, show anyone just how much it hurt. The bully dropped her fist to her side and leaned back for another punch which Jane once again absorbed. The large girl continued to pound a few punches into Jane, hitting her jaw, her eyes and the side of her face. Jane just stood her ground and took each punch as carefree as the next. The angry grunts of the attacker and the soft whimpers of the small girl eventually drew the attention of a dad who came running over to the scene. He pulled the bully away from Jane and once she was confined by the arms of the father, Jane's own dropped back down to her sides letting her fists unclench and slip casually back into sweatpants as if nothing had happened.

The random father dragged the girl farther away from the two of them and eventually sent her back towards the soccer fields where the rest of her team had since returned, now piling back onto their bus. The young girl stood and walked around Jane so that she was now facing her, this mysterious girl who had saved her-her own personal superhero.

Jane's head was down, wild curls concealing her beaten face, and as she started to step forward to walk away, she was stopped by the delicate hold the girl had on her arm. Before she knew it, Jane was pulled into a hug. She hated hugs almost as much as she hated her stupid patriotic and Ranger colored jersey, but this hug was different from the overprotective vice grip her mother had, this did not feel overbearing, it felt right. Jane let her shoulders slump, and in a moment of sheer weakness, she cried.

The sounds of her mysterious hero sobbing made the girl pull out of the hug and she instead focused on reaching her hand up to the tanned face and lifting the chin. The sight, for any normal person, might make them run. But, this girl just gripped her face harder, turning it and her own head in order to inspect the damage. She was different, Jane thought, special. Jane sported a bruised and bleeding lip, paired with a bruised jaw and two swollen eyes that would eventually turn black.

"You didn't have to do all that, you know." the girl said, "After all, I don't even know you."

"It's what I do." Jane joked, "Defend. Protect." she said pointing to the jersey she had on "Name's Jane, by the way. Jane Rizzoli. And yours?"

"Maura" she stated as she dropped her hand from Jane's face "Maura Isles."

"Well, Maura, it's nice to meet you. Now, if ya don't mind, I should be getting back home to try and take care of this before my Ma finds out and kills me" She took a step forward but was once again met by the insistent hand of Maura.

"Let me help you. Please, I insist. It's the least I can do. Those punches were meant for me. Not you." Maura tried.

"Yeah, well... you didn't do anything to deserve that. She was probably just mad about the game. I don't know if you saw but my team crushed hers." Jane said proudly before continuing "C'mon, if you 'insist' or whatever, you can come with me to my house, it's just a few blocks away." Jane replied and then bent down to pick up Maura's destroyed book-Anne of Green Gables. She handed it to Maura who took one look at its mud stained pages and dropped it into the trash.

"Guess I won't get to see how that one ends." Maura laughed lightly as the two walked back to the fields where Jane gathered her cleats and bag. They walked close together down through the streets and into Jane's neighborhood as they chatted away about the game and Maura's book. When they reached Jane's house, she instructed that they should go through the garage entrance because being spotted wasn't as likely there. But when Jane slowly opened the door into the kitchen, she was met with the sight of her mother's back who was beginning to turn around at the sound of her arrival. Ma Rizzoli's face was utterly shocked not only by the horrible injuries on her daughter's face but by the presence of another girl who was standing behind Jane. Jane had never brought any girls home before, only boys that she and her brothers played with. Mrs. Rizzoli would be more excited about Jane bringing a girl her age in a nice dress in the house had it not been for the obvious injuries to Jane's bleeding face.

"Oh my God! Jane Clementine Rizzoli! What did I tell you about fighting with the other players!" she shouted throwing a towel down onto the counter in the process.

"I didn't get in any fight, Ma." Jane replied, once again dropping her head trying to prevent her mother's incoming invasion of her personal space and multiple questions.

"Then what happened to your face? Black eyes and bloody lips don't come from nowhere!" she shouted and waited for an answer from Jane. There was none until the soft sound of Maura clearing her throat strangely filled the room as if the words that were going to come out of her mouth held all the meaning and power in the world.

"Jane took those punches for me." Maura began and then continued to tell the story of what had occurred. Jane would have been watching her Ma's face if she wasn't so distracted by Maura's. The innocent, freckle faced girl ended her story by reassuring Mrs. Rizzoli that Jane had by no means started the fight and was simply protecting Maura from getting hurt. "She's my hero," Maura laughed before looking back at Jane who was staring at her in admiration. The sight of someone looking at her like she was the most important person in the room brought a light pink shade to Maura's cheeks.

"So, my crazy daughter comes running out of nowhere and jumps in front of all these punches to protect you, and you didn't think she was insane? Instead of running, you stayed with her and even followed her home?" Mrs. Rizzoli laughed.

"I wouldn't leave her." Maura stated.

The honesty and sincerity behind the sentiment shocked the Rizzoli girls and pulled gently at their heart strings. Who was this little girl who had so quickly found her way into the Rizzoli home, into the hearts of two of Boston's most guarded girls? Maura reached up and took the bag of frozen peas from Mrs. Rizzoli's hand before gently placing the icy bag on Jane's face.

"You don't have to take care of me, Maura." Jane said weakly.

"Nonsense. You protected me when you didn't have to. Now, I'm going to take care of you, because I want to." Maura said applying a light pressure to Jane's face.

"Ow!" Jane whined at the new pain.

"Oh, don't be such a wuss," Maura joked causing Jane to swat playfully at her arm.

"I take it back," Jane laughed "have your punches. I don't want 'em anymore."

"It's too late for that, Jane. You can't change the past," she said matter-of-factly "that would require changing the-"

"Shh... talking Google. My face hurts enough already. I don't need a headache, too," Jane teased and smiled at Maura who with a little smirk pressed the frozen bag harder into Jane's face.

* Hope you like it so far! Yes, there will be more chapters soon! But first, I really need to update My Own Personal Superhero which I haven't done in a while. If you like the cute & fluffy go read that and then review it because I'm not sure where I want to take it and any help is needed hehe. I appreciate the reviews and favorites/alerts, really I do. It makes me so happy :)


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